I’ve now been climbing and competing for almost 10 years, and I can’t believe where the time has gone. There have been many highs and lows along the way, but the overall journey has been a positive one and I now feel like I am making positive progress towards being the best climber I can be.
For me, the 2022/23 season was solid, but it was clear that I had 2 major weaknesses that had held back my results which were dynamic movement and slabs. I’m naturally a static climber which made me well suited to topping many hard lead climbs up to 8a+, but I knew that if I wanted to progress further with my bouldering then I needed to improve these areas as bouldering finals are now including more parkour style moves and sketchy slabs.
For these reasons, I spent a great deal of time and still do on overcoming the ‘mental block’ that can occur by going against your natural style, relentlessly trying these types of climbs over the last year that in the past I would have ignored. I wouldn’t say that my dynamic climbing is at the same level as others, but it has improved in the last 12 months and incredibly, I now see slab climbing as one of my biggest strengths. When I look back on the season, these areas have been the biggest difference in moving forward my competition results.
The hardest thing I have had to deal with is what has seemed like a never-ending run of minor injuries and illnesses that have constantly interrupted my training. Just as I started to feel like I had broken through another glass ceiling, I came crashing back down on so many occasions with everything from a recurring knee problem, shoulder tendinitis which put me out for about 6 weeks and a bad dose of Covid lasting several weeks. The positives from all of this are that over the years I have learnt to accept that injuries and illnesses are all part of sport and have always immediately taken a break to limit any damage and ensure the quickest possible recovery.
So, over the 2023/24 season, I competed in a total of 11 bouldering competitions making the semifinals in one, the final in another, then one 4th place, one 3rd place, two seconds and managed to get the top spot in five most of which included finals. With all the problems I had to overcome, I’m really pleased with how things went overall and putting this into perspective, I didn’t win once last season. This really highlights the mental and physical steps forward I have been able to make, and I am now looking forward to building on this and having even more fun this upcoming season!
